San Diego-based rapper Tiny Doo has already spent eight months in prison, and faces 25 years to life in prison if convicted under a little-known California statute that makes it illegal to benefit from gang activities.

The statute in question is California Penal Code 182.5. The code makes it a felony for anyone to participate in a criminal street gang, have knowledge that a street gang has engaged in criminal activity, or benefit from that activity.

It’s that last part — benefiting from criminal activity — that prosecutors are going after the rapper for.

Tiny Doo, whose real name is Brandon Duncan, faces nine counts of criminal street gang conspiracy because prosecutors allege he and 14 other alleged gang members increased their stature and respect following a rash of shootings in the city in 2013.

“The studio is my canvas. I’m just painting a picture,” he said. “I’m not telling anybody to go out and kill somebody.”

He denied any involvement with any gang but said the prosecution has him concerned about future creative expression.

“I would love to continue to rap,” he said. “But these people have you scared to do anything around here.”

Prosecutors say lyrics aren’t the only evidence they have. At Duncan’s preliminary hearing, they presented social media posts that they say prove Duncan is still a gang member.

CNN Legal Analyst Mark Geragos says the district attorney may be trying to send a message “that you shouldn’t glorify or glamorize gang activity.”

“The problem is you’re going to run straight head-on into the First Amendment,” he said. “If they don’t have anything other than the album, this case I don’t think would ever stand up.”

]]>http://www.guttaworld.com/whos-the-latest-rapper-facing-prison-time-for-lyrics/feed/0Find Out Why Tyga Is Being Sued By His Managerhttp://www.guttaworld.com/find-out-why-tyga-is-being-sued-by-his-manager/
http://www.guttaworld.com/find-out-why-tyga-is-being-sued-by-his-manager/#commentsSat, 24 Jan 2015 04:39:07 +0000http://www.guttaworld.com/?p=9908Tyga‘s former manager says the rapper’s an ingrate and now there’s only one way to show his appreciation … fork over several million dollars as a “thank you.”

Back in the day … Tyga hired C&J Management, and the company claims it did more than a good job, “turning him from a relative nobody to a world known superstar.” C&J introduced Tyga to Cash Money, so they may have a point.

But sometimes people and Tygas move on … and C&J claims the rapper unceremoniously and illegally fired them in 2013 and hired a brand spankin’ new manager.

]]>http://www.guttaworld.com/find-out-why-tyga-is-being-sued-by-his-manager/feed/0Have You Heard About Eminem’s New Album?http://www.guttaworld.com/have-you-heard-about-eminems-new-album/
http://www.guttaworld.com/have-you-heard-about-eminems-new-album/#commentsWed, 21 Jan 2015 07:42:21 +0000http://www.guttaworld.com/?p=9843Eminem is slated to make an announcement about his new album during the Grammys.

Eminem will release a new album this year, according to Hip-Hop Vibe.

The alleged project bears the title Roots and is expected to include features by Dr. Dre and Xzibit.

Slim Shady has unloaded two albums in the past two years. The platinum selling The Marshall Mathers LP 2 and the greatest hits compilation Shady XV.

While not much is currently known about the project, Hip-Hop Vibe reports that the official announcement is expected to be made in early February, during the Grammy Awards events.

Shady has already won more than a dozen Grammys and he is currently nominated for three more.

It’s unclear whether this announcement will be made at the award show in-person or via social media, similar to the Shady XV promo.

Roots will be the “Rap God” rapper’s ninth solo studio album since bursting onto the Hip Hop scene in 1996 with Infinite.

]]>http://www.guttaworld.com/have-you-heard-about-eminems-new-album/feed/0A$AP Yams Dead At 26http://www.guttaworld.com/aap-yams-dead-at-26/
http://www.guttaworld.com/aap-yams-dead-at-26/#commentsWed, 21 Jan 2015 07:36:59 +0000http://www.guttaworld.com/?p=9840The hip-hop world is mourning the death of A$AP Yams, one of the founding members of the Harlem-based collective A$AP Mob.

“Always strive and prosper. RIP Yams,” said a post Sunday on the group’s official Facebook page with a black-and-white photo of Yams, whose real name is Steven Rodriguez.

He was 26 years old.

“We bugged out on New Years, I didn’t know that would be the last time Seeing my brother,” A$AP Ferg, one of the stars who emerged from the A$AP collective, wrote in a post on Instagram. “R.i.P bro. We all love and Miss you.”

The group’s record company, RCA Records, said it was “shocked and saddened to hear of the death of A$AP Yams,” according to a statement reported by Rolling Stone.

“As one of the creative forces behind A$AP Worldwide, Yams’ vision, humor and dedication to the members of A$AP Mob will always be remembered,” the statement said.It wasn’t immediately clear how Yams had died.

Other hip-hop stars expressed their sadness and paid tribute to his life on social media.

“Rest in peace Yams. A$AP is family,” tweeted Drake.

“A.S.A.P YAMS should be remembered as a leader, an innovator and most importantly as an important part of NYC youth culture,” wrote Azealia Banks.

Rather than being famous for rapping or mixing, Yams is credited with masterminding the rise of A$AP Mob and launching the careers of A$AP Ferg and the chart-topping A$AP Rocky.

“Rocky’s like Luke Skywalker, and I’m Yoda,” Yams said in an interview with The New York Times in 2013, explaining their respective roles.

“R.I.P Yams, I love you brother,” Rocky posted on Facebook.

“You were the brilliant mind, you put us on Game, you changed our lives. You changed my life, you changed the world,” Ferg wrote on Instagram next to a photo of him and Yams kneeling on stage.

Yams was born to a Dominican mother and a Puerto Rican father, according to The New York Times interview. He grew up on the southern edge of Harlem with a lifelong obsession with hip-hop.

“Yams is the hip-hop encyclopedia,” Rocky said in the article. “He’s no joke. That’s one person I can’t front on when it comes to music.”

]]>http://www.guttaworld.com/aap-yams-dead-at-26/feed/0Is Lil Wayne Leaving Birdmans Coop?http://www.guttaworld.com/is-lil-wayne-leaving-birdmans-coop/
http://www.guttaworld.com/is-lil-wayne-leaving-birdmans-coop/#commentsMon, 15 Dec 2014 14:09:58 +0000http://www.guttaworld.com/?p=9654Birdman is NOT letting Lil Wayne out of his recording contract, no matter how much he bitches.

Sources close to Birdman tell us … he’s deeply offended by Weezy’s public rants … claiming Birdman has tried to derail his career by refusing to release his new album. Weezy didn’t mince words, tweeting, “I want off this label and nothing to do with these people.”

Birdman is unmoved and vows to duke it out in court if necessary, because a contract is a contract.
As for the delay in dropping the album, we’re told Birdman says there’s lots of administrative work that goes into releasing a record, and Weezy is just a rapper, not a businessman, so what does he know?

Birdman still intends to release the album, but on his time, not Weezy’s.

Wayne has thrown down the gauntlet, calling himself a prisoner of the Cash Money music mogul.

]]>http://www.guttaworld.com/is-lil-wayne-leaving-birdmans-coop/feed/0Destiny’s Child Biopic, Daddy’s Takin’ Overhttp://www.guttaworld.com/destinys-child-biopic-daddys-takin-over/
http://www.guttaworld.com/destinys-child-biopic-daddys-takin-over/#commentsMon, 15 Dec 2014 13:43:32 +0000http://www.guttaworld.com/?p=9651Beyonce’s dad tried to cash in on his famous daughter’s name last year with a Destiny’s Child biopic … according to the latest batch of leaked Sony emails released by hackers.

Mathew Knowles reportedly reached out to Sony in December 2013 … offering the studio first dibs on a movie about the girl group — and execs seemed into the idea.

However it doesn’t look like they ever came to a deal. Lifetime is reportedly planning a D.C. movie next year, but unclear if Mathew’s behind that one.
Another leaked email referenced a possible Kanye West feature film. A Yeezy staffer sent an email sent to Sony Pictures honcho Amy Pascal … pitching her a movie project involving “cinematic and technological innovation.”